price



(No Model.)

J. T. PRICE.

GAR COUPLING.

No. 551,094. Patented Dec. 10, 1895.

ANDREW EGRAHAM.PHOTOLITNQWASHINGTUI.

UNITED STATES PATENT- ()FFICEV.

JACOB T. PRICE, OF WVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES H. TOBIN, OF SAME PLACE.

CARY-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 551,094, dated December 10, 1895.

Application filed August 8, 1895. Serial No. 558,5 85. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB T. PRICE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have in vented a certain new, useful, and valuable Improvementin Oar-Couplings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. My invention has relation to car-couplings; IO and it consists in the novel construction and arrangement of its parts, as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan View of the coupling members locked together. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of one of the members. Fig. 3 is a front end view of one of the members.

Each member is provided with a protrusion 1, which extends to the front, the outer pe- 2o riphery of said protrusion being substantially semicircular. A knuckle 2 is pivoted in the extreme outer end of each protrusion. Said knuckle has a shank 3, which extends back, the knuckle, including the shank, being sub- 2 5 stantially crescent in shape. The shank 3 is adapted to play back and forth in the recess at out in the throat of the coupling. (See Fig. 2.) A spring 5, located in the coupling, bears at one end against the back of the shank 3 0 and tends to keep the said shank asfar from the bottom of the recess 4 as possible. Each member is also provided with a protrusion 6, located at the side of the coupling, the space between the protrusion 0 of the protrusion 1 forming the mouth of the coupling. The recess aterminates in the said protrusion 6. A catch 7 is pivoted in the protrusion 6. The inner end of the said catch is adapted to bear against the end of the shank 3 of the knuckle 2 and prevent the said shank swinging too far to the front'when the members of the coupling are interlocked. The said catch 7 is operated upon by the spring 8, which keeps the free end of the catch as far out as possible. The catch is prevented from extending too far into the mouth of the coupling by the wall of metal 9, which is adapted to bear against the side of the said catch. The pivot 10 of the said catch extends up through the coupling, and the upper end of the said pivot is prosible.

vided with an angle-arm 11, by means of which the catch may be swung to the rear against the spring 8, and thus liberating the end of the shank 3, and thus uncoupling the cars. 5 5

Each protrusion 6 is provided with a set of bumpers 12. These bumpers consist of the horizontal rods 13 13, which are located in Suitable perforations in the protrusions. A heavy spiral spring let bears against the end of each rod 13 and tends to keep the rods as far beyond the end of the protrusions as pos- The outer ends of the rods are connected by the perpendicular plate 15, the outer face of the said plate being rounded off toward the perpendicular edges. Each rod 13 is provided with an elongated perforation 16, through which passes the pin 17 and thus the rods are-retained in the protrusions.

On the outer side of each coupling, extend- 7o ing laterally beyond the outer side of the protrusion 1 and at the base of the same, is a rest 18, formed in the metal of the coupling. The plate 15 of the opposite coupling is adapted to rest against said rest, as shown in Fig. 1. The object of the bumpers just described is to keep the knuckles of the two couplings always in close contact with each other, and hence a tight coupling is made. The recess between the base of the protrusion 1 and the rest 18 affords suflicient room for the lateral pivotal play of the plates 15 while the cars are passing around curves. The perpendicular outer side of the protrusions are slightly curved, as at 19 in Fig. '3. This curved surface comes under the flanges 20 20 of the inner perpendicular side of the protrusion 16 of the opposite coupling. 1 Thus the couplings may have a slight perpendicular play within each other withont danger of becoming disengaged. There is also room for a slight lateral play of the couplings within each other. The knuckles 2 are provided with the pin perforations 21, and each knuckle has a recess 22 cut therein to receive the link of 9 5 the ordinary link-and-pin coupling.

In order to couple the cars fitted with these couplings it is not necessary to set one of the knuckles of one .of the couplings. It is simply necessary to back the cars together and I00 the couplings will interlock irrespective of the position of the knuckles. The front rounded surfaces of the knuckles will come in contact with each other and the knuckles will be pushed around on their pivots and the shanks will be pressed against the springs 5. As soon as the ends of the knuckles clear each other, the springs will instantly force the knuckles out and they interlock. This coupling can be used on curves as well as on straight track. For uncoupling the cars any means may be applied to the pivot-rod 10 in order to give the turn necessary to bring the end of the latch 7 beyond the end of the shank.

This coupling can be used with any other form of coupling now in general use.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A coupling consisting of a member, a protrusion extending forward from one side of said member, a knuckle pivoted near its forward end in the said protrusion, the outer end of the knuckle adapted to swing in beyond the pivot point, a recess in the member adapted to receive the rear end of the knuckle, a spring located between the knuckle and the bottom of the recess, a means for temporarily retaining the inner end of the knuckle within the recess, as set forth.

2. A coupling consisting of a member, a protrusion extending forward from one side of said member, a knuckle pivoted near its forward end in the said protrusion, the outer end of the knuckle adapted to swing both in and out beyond the pivot point, a recess in the member adapted to receive the rear end of the knuckle, a spring located between the knuckle and the bottom of the recess, a means for temporarily retaining the inner end of the knuckle within the recess, as set forth.

3. A coupling consisting of a member, a protrusion extending forward from one side of said member, a knuckle pivoted near its forward end in the said protrusion, the outer end of the knuckle adapted to swing both in and out beyond the pivot point, a recess in the member adapted to receive the rear end of the knuckle, a spring located in the recess between the knuckle and the bottom of the recess, a catch pivot-ed in the recess, the inner end of said catch extending to the rear, a spring located in the recess behind said catch and bearing against the same, the rear end of the catch adapted to bear against the rear end of the knuckle and temporarily retain the same in the recess, as set forth.

4:. In a coupling consisting of two interlocking members, a device adapted to preserve a tight junction of the members, said device consisting of a spring operated bumper located in one member and extending beyond the end of the same, a laterally extending rest located on the opposite member behind the knuckle pivot and adapted to abut against the bumper of the first said member, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JACOB T. PRICE. \Vitnesses A. E. GLASCOCK, BERTHA L. DANA. 

